URC: Ulster 19 Connacht 26
Connacht brought a miserable run of 11 interprovincial URC defeats to an end with a superb victory at the Affidea Stadium. Three tries in seven second-half minutes, two from the impressive Finn Treacy, gave the visitors the momentum to squeeze home with a bonus-point win.
Ulster, meanwhile, will rue several gilt-edged try-scoring chances that went abegging in the first half.
The opening minutes were dominated by handling errors from both sides, the rigour in the tackle prising possession from the ball carriers and over-running lines was a contributory factor. Ulster lost Mikey Lowry after just five minutes, punished for getting his head in the wrong place in making a tackle.
The most noteworthy aspect of the early exchanges was Nathan Doak’s repertoire of kicks, beautifully executed for the most part. Play meandered between the two 10-metre lines, a composite of scrums, lineouts and box-kicks.
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Jack Carty started a shemozzle with a little leg lifting on replacement fullback Ethan McIlroy after the whistle, harmless enough until the numbers involved swelled and bodies bounced off the pitch hoardings. Connacht turned over three Ulster lineouts which kept the home side at a non-threatening distance from their line.
Then on 18 minutes, the contest’s first instance of rugby acuity, Carty made a superb break and Bundee Aki took play to within a couple of metres of the Connacht line, at which point Ulster conceded a penalty.
Dave Heffernan took the tap and no one could stop Sean Jansen from executing phase two of the plan. Seán Naughton kicked the conversion to push Connacht out to a 7-0 lead through the first quarter of the match.
McIlroy started a counterattack with lovely footwork, replacement Bryn Ward, on for Marcus Rea, broke superbly and gave the scoring pass to Doak, who stepped a couple of green-shirted scramblers. The scrumhalf added the conversion. His counterpart Colm Reilly saved the visitors when winning the race to the touch down as Ulster threatened a second try.
Connacht lost prop Finlay Bealham to a yellow card with an off-field review, which was not upgraded, for a shoulder to the head of Ulster hooker Tom Stewart, but as the home side threatened again Aki relieved the pressure with a super penalty turnover at the breakdown.
Honours even 7-7 at the interval in a scrappy if entertaining tussle. A side effect of the huge physicality was that three players left for HIAs; two returned, Lowry the outlier.
On the resumption Ulster seemed certain to score a second try but Doak’s pass to Iain Henderson five metres from the Connacht line was a shocker.
The scrumhalf was not to blame though seconds later after a wonderful first phase attack, Stockdale got on the outside of Aki and Werner Kok lined with Doak, but Ben Carson spilled the ball as the try line beckoned. Bealham returned from his disciplinary sabbatical and underlined Ulster’s profligacy by giving Connacht the lead with a close-range try.
The change of tempo from replacement halfbacks Ben Murphy and Josh Ioane got Connacht to the edges a little quicker and they stressed the home side in the wider channels. Finn Treacy profited with his team’s third try, the wing finishing after great work by Ben Murphy.
Galvanised, Ulster struck back almost immediately through a tidy try from Zac Ward but Treacy’s second, a virtuoso effort popping up on the opposite wing, converted brilliantly by Naughton, saw Connacht take a firm grip on the outcome while also claiming a bonus point.
The bench made a huge impact for Connacht, picking up the tempo, but doing so with a focus and nuance that caused a tiring Ulster problems out wide. Man-of-the-match Aki received a huge ovation when departing on 72 minutes, celebrating his new Ireland contract with a reminder of exactly why he got it, doughty at the breakdown and thunderous in the tackle.
Connacht’s sprightly attacking patterns were in marked contrast to Ulster, who looked out of sorts and ragged with all the changes prior to and during the game. To their credit the home side showed grit and resilience. Bell’s try, converted by Jack Murphy, got them within touching distance at 26-19, but they could not close the gap further, having to settle instead for the losing bonus point.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 19 mins: Jansen try, Naughton con 0-7; 24: Doak try, con 7-7; Half-time 7-7; 57: Bealham try, Naughton con 7-14; 61: Treacy try 7-19; 65: Ward try 12-19; 68: Treacy try, Naughton con 12-26; 76: Bell try, Murphy con 19-26
ULSTER: M Lowry; W Kok, J Stockdale, B Carson, Z Ward; J Murphy; A Bell, T Stewart, S Wilson; I Henderson, J Hopes; D McCann, M Rea, J Augustus. Replacements: E McIlroy for Lowry (6 mins), B Ward for Rea (21-33, 51), T O’Toole for Wilson (51), M Dalton for Henderson (55), R Herring for Stewart, S Crean for Bell (59-73), C McKee for Doak, J Scott for McIlroy (both 63).
CONNACHT: S Naughton; S Jennings, C Forde, B Aki, F Treacy; J Carty, C Reilly; B Bohan, D Heffernan, F Bealham; J Joyce, D Murray; J Murphy, C Prendergast, S Jansen. Replacements: P Boyle for Murphy (19-30 mins, 63), S Illo for Jansen (42-48), B Murphy for Reilly, J Ioane for Carty (both 51), P Dooley for Bohan, Illo for Bealham, N Murray for Joyce (all 59), B Murphy for Jansen (71), J Devine for Aki (73).
Yellow card: Bealham (39 mins).
Referee: M Adamson (SCO).
